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Creating New Creatures
There are a lot of monsters available to use within the confines of the ESPER Universe alone. However, this universe contains the nightmares of the entire world, and as such, listing them all would be an incredibly difficult undertaking. Because of this, we offer here a way to make creatures from scratch so the GM can design his own terrible beasties for use in his campaigns. Step One: Level The first thing to decide when making a monster is how powerful it is going to be. Choose one of the very descriptive ranks off the following list in order to see how many Creature Creation Points you have to use to make the creature. Creature Levels Beasty…10 Points Monster...15 Points Lesser Servitor...15 Points Greater Servitor...20 Points Master...30 Points Deity...40 Points Horror...50 Points Step Two: Attributes The next important step is to set the attributes of your creature. You may purchase attributes in groups using your Creature Creation Points. The groups are: ''GROUP 1: Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Reflexes, and Fortitude'' ''GROUP 2: Intellect, Willpower, Faith, and Focus'' ''GROUP 3: Psyche, Persona, Luck, and Fear'' For every point you spend on a group, you get 100 attribute points to assign to the attributes in that group. So, for example, if you spent three points on Group One, the creature would have 300 points to spend on Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Reflexes, and Fortitude. After messing around with that for a while, you could come up with something like this: STR: 70 AGL: 65 DEX: 35 REF: 55 FOR: 75 A creature must have at least five points in every attribute, but there is no upper limit like there is for human characters. Step Three: Characteristics Start looking through the List of Creature Characteristics Characteristics to get an idea of the characteristics you want the creature to possess. Each characteristic may be purchased up to four times to increase its rank, making it more powerful, although there are some that won’t ever use more than one rank. One Creature Creation Point will purchase one rank in any characteristic. You may purchase as many characteristics for your creature as you can afford. Step Four: Powers At this point, you may begin to purchase powers for your creature. Look through the List of Creature Powers to find out what the possibilities are for your creature. It costs one point to purchase a power. You should then decide which attribute best fits the power. For example, a magickal power might best be suited by Willpower, while an Astral one might be suited to Psyche. The power starts out at the same level as that attribute. So, for example, if you choose Summon Servitor and decide it should be operated by the creature’s Willpower, which is 80, the number you need to roll on when using that creature’s Summon Servitor ability would be 80. You can then spend one Creature Creation Point to increase this number by five. Thus, if you spent four points, the number would be bumped up to 100. Remember, there are a lot of powers that creatures can use in unique ways. Feel free to alter the effects of a power to suit how you want your creature to work, and don’t forget to describe in its Modus Operandi exactly how it uses its powers. Step Five: Specifics There are several other pieces of information you should begin thinking about as you finish your creature. These specifics are found in every creature listing: ''Description: What the creature looks like.'' ''Location: Where to find the creature.'' ''Modus Operandi: What the creature does.'' ''Neutralization: How to defeat the creature.'' These four things are the most important part about your creature. They describe exactly what it is and what it does. You are free to make up the details for these as you see fit, but we have included some lists to make this easier for you. It also allows you to roll in order to randomize the elements. 'What is the Creature’s Motivation?' 1-5. To obtain Worship / Followers 6-10. To obtain contracts for human Souls 11-15. Shedding Blood / Causing Death 16-20. Its own Survival 21-25. Preserving its Solitude 26-30. Obtaining or maintaining Immortality 31-35. Revenge against someone or something 36-40. Escape / Release from bondage 41-45. Perversion of the Innocent 46-50. Obtaining Power 51-55. Obtaining an Artifact or Artifacts 56-60. Gaining Knowledge 61-65. To Follow its Master's Will 66-70. Animal Instincts / Rage 71-75. Perpetuation of a Lie 76-80. Perpetuation of a Legend 81-85. Perpetuation of Itself / Mating 86-90. It is driven by Madness 91-95. To Cause Madness 96-100. To bring about the end of the world/civilization 'What is the Creature's Source of Power?' 1-5. A specific location or its lair 6-10. Darkness 11-15. Fear 16-20. Madness 21-25. Death 26-30. Negative Emotions / Sin 31-35. A Substance or Object 36-40. Antiquity 41-45. A Part of Its Body 46-50. Psychic or Psionic Energy 51-55. Its Master 56-60. Electromagnetic Fields 61-65. Belief 66-70. Ritual / Magick 71-75. Mystical or Planetary Configurations 76-80. Memory / Knowledge 81-85. A Curse 86-90. Cursed Items / Locations 91-95. Environmental Conditions 96-100. Unreality / Dreams 'What is the Creature's Method?' 1-5. Brute Force / Murder 6-10. Temptation 11-15. An Ancient Ritual 16-20. Kidnapping 21-25. Lures / Promises 26-30. Possession 31-35. Trickery / Confusion 36-40. Invasion 41-45. Wheeling and Dealing 46-50. Enslavement 51-55. Manipulating Overall Circumstances 56-60. Infection 61-65. Subtle Influence 66-70. Hallucination / Altering Reality 71-75. Manipulating Natural Forces 76-80. Psychic Manipulation 81-85. Apathy (waiting for the stars to be right) 86-90. Assimilation 91-95. Enlisting Aid 96-100. Inconceivable Powers 'How Does One Defeat the Creature?' 1-5. A Substance 6-10. An Artifact 11-15. A Ritual / Incantation 16-20. Environmental Conditions 21-25. Disbelief 26-30. Positive Emotions 31-35. A certain method of physical death 36-40. Holy Symbols of a Particular God 41-45. Blessed Weapons / Places 46-50. Isolation / Imprisonment 51-55. Separation from a Source of Power 56-60. Fulfilling or Not Fulfilling Goals 61-65. Time Limit 66-70. Being Forgotten 71-75. Connection to its Origin (such as lifting a curse) 76-80. Being Outwitted 81-85. Justification 86-90. Fulfilling its purpose 91-95. Its own pride / Overconfidence 96-100. This creature cannot be defeated Once you have determined all the factorsa that make your creature a force to be reckoned with, write a campaign or a single adventure employing it and be prepared to unleash it upon an unsuspecting world. The nightmares of your players are now yours to control! Category:ESPER Category:Campaign Category:Creatures